Lawns still need work in the fall

[attach]911[/attach]Summer may be over, but the quest for that perfect patch of green lawn is just beginning — for next year’s lawn, that is.

Although some people may feel like the lawn work is done once the mower is stored, there are lots of things you can do in fall to make sure the green carpet gets off to a great start in spring.

“It’s probably the best time of year to do an aeration,” says Roy Hummel, operations manager at [url=http://www.gelderman.com/]Jan Gelderman Landscaping[/url].

“In the fall, that’s when the roots are developing,” says Hummel, who has more than 30 years experience in lawn care. “There’s less chance of weeds being deposited on the subsoil when you aerate.

“(And) this time of year the soil’s usually wet, so it penetrates more easily.”

Fertilizing isn’t just for summer, either.

“Fall fertilizing is an important part of the lifecycle of a lawn,” Hummel says. “You want to thicken up the lawn as much as possible so the roots can develop, and it allows the roots to go into dormancy in a healthy condition.”

Any winterizer fertilizer will do, Hummel says.

As for technique, “the proper instruction will usually be written on the bag,” he says.

Ditto for seeding. But Hummel says anyone taking care of a lawn should try and seed when there are seven–10 successive days of warmer weather so the seeds have a chance to germinate and take hold in the soil before the arrival of heavy frost.

“The warmer it is, the faster it’ll germinate,” he says.

It may seem like extra work to tend to the lawn in fall, but the payoff will be worth it come spring, Hummel says.

“What everybody should do is enjoy their garden and take care of what God gave us,” he says.